Parkinson hails Cleworth's 'class' against Birmingham's Stansfield

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson has hailed Max Cleworth's "class" after his performance against the "best striker in the division" in Birmingham's Jay Stansfield.

Cleworth, 22, was part of the Wrexham team which stopped Stansfield from adding to his tally of 12 goals this season during their 1-1 draw in League One.

Stansfield, also 22, was signed by the Blues for around £15m from Fulham last summer, while Cleworth has been a mainstay of Wrexham's teams since Phil Parkinson took over as manager in the National League in 2021.

"A lot of people were talking about Jay Stansfiled before the game, but maybe they'll be talking about Max Cleworth after the game because I thought he handled him brilliantly," Parkinson said after the game, dubbed by some as the 'Hollywood derby'.

"I'm not going to say too much because the transfer window is still open," added Parkinson.

"But I'm so pleased for Max, he's a player who's grown with us, he really has. We through him in the deep end in our first ever game - he's played a lot of football for us and his development has been great, and tonight was a real class performance against probably the best striker in the division."

Wrexham will be looking to extend their unbeaten home form on Tuesday night when they face Stevenage, with new signing Ryan Longman in line for a potential debut.